Pride Vegan Parade brings visibility to animal rights in Toronto

A crowd gathered during the “Pride Parade Vegan” in Toronto, Canada, to educate the local public about the movement.

“As we move forward we saw restaurants everywhere with advertisements that encouraged the consumption of meat, we feel that it is everywhere,” said the organizer of the parade, Jenny McQueen. “We are sending a message that veganism is coming,” she added, according to Toronto Ist information.

The Toronto parade takes place annually and was founded in 2009 by animal rights activist Holly Larson. About 4% of Canadians are vegans or vegetarians.

The parade was the first foray into activism student Sarah Laffin and Dylan Micallef, who claim to have waited an hour in line at a barbecue sponsored by the school to discover that there was no vegan option for them.

“More and more young people are becoming vegans. The older generation grew up thinking that eating meat is normal, but young people are beginning to realize that it is not, “Laffin said.

But the march does not address veganism only as a personal preference; many regulars explain that veganism is inherently political.

“It is important that people know that there is a relationship between food and climate change.” Said Ray Kowalchuk contingent “Climate Vegan” whose goal in the short term, is to encourage activists to think about the environmental issues and make defenders the environment become vegan too.

One of the Agriculture and UN Food Organization report of 2006 stated that animal agriculture was responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere.